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The parachute deployed too early, and the module crashed. Film cassettes were recovered, however.
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| Launch failure | January 20, 1969 | |
| Second and third stages of the Proton rocket performed poorly, so the vehicle
had to be destroyed. The launch escape system functioned as designed. | ||
| Launch failure | February 20, 1969 | |
| First N-1 rocket (figure 1-13) flight test; N-1 number 31 carried a simplified L1 on what was to have been a lunar flyby mission. The engine control system incorrectly shut down two of the 30 NK-15 engines in the rocket’s first stage before it cleared the tower. Excessive vibration ruptured lines in engine number 12. At 55 sec, a fire started in the first stage. It burned through the engine control system cables at 69 sec, shorting out the system and shutting down the first-stage engines. Still afire, N-1 number 31 fell to Earth 50 km downrange, exploding on impact. The simplified L1 descent module ejected and landed safely. | ||
| Launch failure | July 3, 1969 | |
| Launched on the second N-1 rocket to fly (number 51). Less than a second after liftoff, a loose metallic object caught in the oxidizer pump of the number 8 engine of the N-1 first stage. The engine exploded, damaging the first stage cable runs and several adjacent engines. A fire broke out, and the rocket fell back onto and destroyed its launch pad. The simplified L1 payload ejected using the launch escape system. | ||
| Zond 7 | August 7-14, 1969 | |
| Most successful of the L1 flights. Its Proton launch vehicle performed nominally. Zond 7 photographed the lunar farside from 2000 km altitude, performed a skip reentry, and landed safely in the recovery area in the Soviet
Union. | ||
| Zond 8 | October 20-27, 1970 | |
| Mishin claims that its ballistic reentry and splashdown in the Indian Ocean were planned.[1] Afanaseyev and other sources state that Zond 8 suffered control problems.[2] It shot photos of the farside of the Moon on October 24 during flyby at 1200 km altitude. | ||
